Jazmine laughed as she texted Caesar back. They were on roll today. They were close, yeah, and there were plenty of times when they had great moments of conversation but it happened so rarely. Caesar was such the quiet, observant type that she had to appreciate when he was stepping outside of his norms. She had always felt a lot closer to Huey and Riley, probably because she had known them longer.

So it was nice to enjoy his company, genuinely. They were friends for a reason, right? Maybe she should've took more initiative to do so beforehand. She took a deep breath and finally reached over to her nightstand to turn the light off.

It was really late and she probably should've been sleeping considering that she would have to be up in a few hours for school. Caesar had stopped replying and she assumed he had fell asleep, so in an effort to wind down, she opened Instagram and scrolled through her feed until she had seen everything. Then she went through her stories. As she was tapping through, she saw a story with a dainty hand, clad in medium length acrylics laying on a tanned chest. She hadn't really paid much attention to it, even thought to herself that it was cute. Then she tapped back through several stories after realizing something was familiar about the picture.

It was Huey. He had a distinctive scar on the right side of his chest, one that she had actually given to him when they were 13 or 14 years old. She felt sick to her stomach. Melina had posted it. She had posted it twenty-three minutes ago. She held the picture down, staring it down. There's no way that Huey would've let her take the picture, nonetheless post it. He had to have been asleep. Had to have been.

Her mind was reeling and all she could think about was "I wish I would've put my fucking phone down and went to sleep."

She just stared, and stared. There was a couple hickeys higher up on his chest. She screenshotted it and sent the picture to Cindy with a bunch of question marks. Cindy probably wasn't even awake but she had to tell somebody.

Thankfully, Cindy replied almost immediately.

I was hoping that you wouldn't see the shit

That dumb bitch

Huey wouldn't let someone take a pic of him he got to be knocked tf out

Everyone is gonna be talking about this shit tmw

Jazmine just read the messages. Not really knowing what to say to any of that.

You okay Jaz? Don't trip off of him

I'm just gonna go to sleep

Aight gn. Again dont trip. Just call me in you need me, see you tmw

There was a pit in the bottom of Jazmine's stomach. It felt like she was going to throw up, and she didn't know what to do with herself. Against her better judgement, she climbed out of bed and quietly walked out her room and downstairs to the living room so she could peer out across the street. The confirmation that she didn't really need was right there, a car that she'd never seen in the Freeman's driveway, sitting there in their driveway. It had to be Melina's car.

As she stared out the window, she felt this weird feeling balling up in the pit of her stomach. At this very moment, Melina was laying in the bed with Huey. The same bed that he had tried to kiss her in just a few days ago. If she hadn't rejected his kiss, could it have been here laying in bed next to him?

"I love Huey," Jazmine mumbled to herself.

There was no doubt in her mind and there was no point in denying it anymore. Because, why else would this hurt so much? She knew he messed around. She heard about it often, heard the guys joke about it every now and then. Despite all that, still hurting, none of it had hurt the way that seeing that picture did.

That's how she really knew that she loved Huey.

What was she going to do?

She did the next best thing she could think of, text Riley. Again, she wasn't expecting him to be awake but he definitely was. He replied almost immediately with a long, drawn out "broooooo what". Everyone who knew Huey knew for a fact that he wouldn't be okay with that picture.

She sat in front of the window, wondering what would happen, if anything, next. She watched the light in Huey's room flicker on a few minutes later. Two silhouettes standing in the lit room and moving around before both of them left. Not even a minute later, Jazmine saw the front door open and then Melina being rushed out. She cracked the window open and got as close to it as she possibly could to hear something.

Huey was obviously upset, "Why would you post that?!"

"What's it matter? You fucking with other girls? Don't want me to stop you from getting pussy?!" Melina snapped, way louder than Huey was being, not caring about the fact that it was the middle of the night. If she didn't leave soon, everyone would be standing on their porches trying to listen to the drama.

"Go! Just go Melina!" Huey shouted, throwing his arms in the direction of her car.

She threw something at him before running to her car to get in. She backed out of the driveway and sped off the street.

Jazmine watched as Huey stood outside in the dark, the only light coming from the automatic light in his driveway. She closed the window and slowly found her way back up into her room. She mostly wanted Melina to get away from Huey, but she also did care that she had did something so sneaky like a post a picture. There was no doubt in her mind that more than enough people would be talking about it tomorrow.

She climbed into bed and spent the rest of the night tearfully thinking about Huey.

When Jazmine pulled up to Cindy's house to pick her up, she knew she looked like shit. As soon as Cindy buckled herself in and looked at Jazmine, all she did was say "damn" and jump back a little bit. "...Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's good. Just tired," Jazmine shrugged, putting the car into drive and pulling off.

"I told you to call me if you needed me," Cindy sighed heavily.

"I know that. It was late as hell and there wasn't really anything to talk about."

"You look like shit," Cindy mumbled.

"I know. I only got like forty minutes of sleep. Is it okay if I grab some coffee from Micky D's?"

"Yeah girl of course," Cindy nodded. She was tired herself, but not for anything like Jazmine's reason. She tried not to stare at Jazmine too hard, but damn did she really look a mess. Her hair was a frizzy, dry mess. She wasn't wearing her usual gold hoops. Her outfit didn't match in any context and Cindy was sure she had a few toothpaste spots on her shirt. Cindy hadn't gotten a good look at Jazmine's face since she hadn't looked in her direction once, but she already knew that she had crazy bags under her eyes and probably a red, puffy face too.

She felt bad for her best friend. She was really hopeful that the party would get Huey and Jazmine together, but for the life of her she couldn't imagine why she didn't think about the fact that Huey would bring somebody with him.

Cindy shook her head to herself, knowing that Jazmine would talk to her about how she was feeling when she was ready. The past few days had been a lot, especially involving her and Huey. So Cindy sat quietly, if only because she could tell Jazmine didn't want to talk at all. When they finally got to school, Cindy stepped out. "Again, hit me up if you need me, okay? If not, I'll see you at lunch?"

Jazmine nodded, slinging her backpack on and locking her car door, "I got it Cin, I'm fine. I promise. I'll see you later."

The two parted ways with only ten minutes left to spare before the bell rang for class. Jazmine didn't really feel like talking to anybody, so she halfheartedly waved at anyone she did know and kept it moving. Sipping and walking. Sipping and walking. It was keeping her from feeling how tired she was and it was keeping her from thinking about how sad she was. Today was definitely going to be a long day.

There was no way she was going to be able to pay attention at all today.

"Hey! Jazmine!" A voice shouted from behind her. Jazmine stopped, not really sure who was calling her but knowing enough to understand that whoever was calling her name was pissed. She turned around slowly, multiple people also standing around and staring at her direction. Lo and behold, Melina, storming up to Jazmine. Just as angry as last night. Jazmine took another sip of her coffee and wished that Cindy could've been standing right besides because this confrontation thing was definitely more up Cindy's alley.

"Yeah?" Jazmine tried to play it off as if she didn't care. On the inside though, her heart was racing a mile a minute. She prayed that this wasn't going to be a fight.

"I know it was you that told Huey about those pictures, you hating ass bitch. Huey doesn't fucking want you so fall the fuck back," Melina snapped at her, throwing her hands around angrily, "and don't pull no shit, talking about you don't know, because I know you viewed my story."

"I did view it, yeah. How was it?" Jazmine forced a smile onto her face. That one hurt.

"You and McPhearson were the only two that viewed it out of y'alls lil squad. I know it wasn't McPhearson. So it had to be you," Melina was stepping up closer and Jazmine took a slight step back. A bunch of people were watching them now, waiting for a fight to break out. Where were the administrators when you actually needed them?

"All the girls that Huey messes with and you think that I'm the one who said something to him? What're you doing all this for when you know he's gonna be done with you in a week or two? If you actually knew him you-"

Jazmine was cut off with a resounding SLAP. The most painful slap she'd ever felt in her life, if she was being honest. She reeled back as she dropped her drink. She was mad but not mad enough to get into a fight. Everyone around them was whispering, wondering what was going to happen next.

There was no way would Jazmine be fighting anyone, especially not over Huey. She looked at Melina as she bent down to pick up her iced coffee, threw it at her as hard as she could possibly muster, and took off running. She wasn't going to be able to live that down. She threw a fucking drink!

She had finally made it inside after shoving past the crowd of students that were standing outside the building. She was thankful that it was partially empty inside the school, thankful that she had three minutes to spare to try to get the handmark off her face. She leaned against the wall, the adrenaline wearing off slowly until she was even more tired than before.

And then she started crying.

"Jazmine?"

She froze. She knew who it was. She wiped at her face and turned around slightly, trying to hide her reddened cheek. "Hey Huey," she waved at him awkwardly.

"What's wrong, why are you crying?" He stepped closer to her. He knew that things were still tense, but she was crying. She wasn't even trying to make eye contact with him, just avoiding him completely.

"Nothing, I'm good. Just a long night I guess?" Jazmine shrugged, trying to laugh.

"Okay and suddenly you can't talk to me and tell me what's wrong?" Huey side stepped faster than Jazmine can turned, trying to catch her eyes, but seeing the welt in the shape of the handprint right on her cheek. The bell rang. There'd be three minutes before first period started. "Who hit you?"

"Nobody. I said I was fine." Jazmine's hand went up to hold her cheek. It still stung slightly so she lightened up on how much she was covering it.

"Who the fuck put their hands on you Jazmine?!" Huey snapped.

"Melina," Jazmine mumbled slightly. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes again. The hallways were packed and she could feel the eyes on her. Before she knew it, Huey had wrapped his arm around her shoulder and started leading her down the hall. Then up the steps. Down a few more halls. As they went on there were less and less people, almost like it was deserted.

"Where are we going?" Jazmine mumbled.

Huey didn't bother to say anything but led Jazmine down one more hallway, then to a tall door with a lock on it. Huey pulled out his keys and stuck one in the door and unlocked it. Then he pulled Jazmine into the small mystery room. She looked around as she heard the door lock behind her.

"How do you have keys to a closet?" Jazmine was amazed, really. It was obviously a closet, but for what she didn't know. There wasn't anything on the door and it didn't look or smell like a custodian's closet. It actually looked a little… personalized?

"I have my ways. Sit down," Huey took his backpack off, grabbed the cold water bottle he had on the side and handed it to Jazmine, "put it on your cheek. It looks really bad."

Jazmine took it and did as she was told, sighing loudly. Her phone was going off, probably multiple people asking her if she was okay. Everyone had to know that Melina had slapped the shit out of her by now. She groaned a little and closed her eyes, "Fuck."

"Can you tell me what happened? And why?" Huey sat down in the chair across from Jazmine. There wasn't a lot of space between them. Despite how small the room was, it didn't really feel small.

"Yeah yeah. I was just walking around and she called my name. So I turned around and she was all in my face saying that I told you about that picture she posted on her story. Then I said a few things. Then she slapped me. And I threw my coffee at her and ran."

Huey sucked his teeth about the Instagram story but laughed when Jazmine told him that she threw her coffee. He knew more than anybody that Jazmine wasn't by any means a fighter but she could have at least tried to hit her back. "That fucking picture. I don't know why she would do that in the first place. And why she would hit you. Riley was the one who said something."

Jazmine sighed a breath of relief. Riley must have played it off well. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was rattling the door or some shit. Then she got up and opened it and he was yelling, but not yelling. Didn't want to wake up Granddad. But then he told me and I kicked her out. She was pissed, blowing my phone up all night."

Jazmine didn't really know what to say. It wasn't like she couldn't have guessed that that was what happened, not like she was watching it go down or anything…

"But forget all that. I'm sorry she hit you because of me. I'll deal with that I promise. Let me see your face?" Huey moved her hand down and glanced at Jazmine cheek. She tried not to pay attention to how close to her face he was, or to how good he smelled. "It's looking a little bit better."

Jazmine just nodded, placing the water bottle back on her face. This was weird. Despite it being weird, she still felt way more relaxed than she had before. They sat in silence for a few moments before Huey took a deep breath.

"We have to talk about a few things," Huey looked at her, eyes serious.

Never before had Jazmine wanted to bolt out of room so badly, "About what?"

"This weekend?" He pauses and shook his head, "I wanna start out by apologizing to you. You're my best friend and I disrespected you and crossed a line that I shouldn't have crossed, trying to kiss you. I hope you know I'd never disrespect you like that. I'll never let that happen again."

"I… it's okay. It's fine, really." Jazmine tried to shrug it off. He was being so… intense.

"Nah it's not. I wouldn't ever disrespect you like that Jaz," he took a deep breath, "with that aside. I know that… you have feelings for me."

Jazmine almost shit her pants then and there. Huey watched as the color drained from her face. This was as bad for him as it was for her. He had no idea how he was feeling about her, about anything. When Riley had told them Caesar had took Jazmine out, it had hit him pretty hard. Then he remember how angry he felt watching her get touchy feely with another guy. She had never really flaunted any of her relationships, to him or to anybody. Huey had never had to deal with see Jazmine with somebody. He had to keep asking himself, did he have feelings for her? Was he just feeling protective of her, because they were so close? He didn't really know what to make of his feelings.

He wanted to be straightforward as possible, but not disrespectful. Yes, he was attracted to her. Would he date her? Objectively speaking, of course he would. But he didn't date, he didn't want to date. Why would that change for Jazmine? And even if he would date her, then what about after? He'd hate to throw away such a long friendship for a short relationship. In his mind, the most important part was to not lead her on.

"I… really don't wanna talk about this Huey," Jazmine mumbled, now blushing more than she ever has in her life.

"I kinda think we have to though? I won't lie and say that I'm not attracted to you. And if I was one for dating then you would be my first choice. I really mean that. You're my best friend, I love you so much and I don't wanna hurt you if I can help it," Huey took a deep breath, "I want stuff to go back to normal for us."

Jazmine wasn't quite sure how to respond. There was that confirmation that deep down, she didn't know that she needed. Her and Huey would never be a thing, so she might as well go ahead and get over him now. In the back of her mind, it had always felt like there was a chance for them to end up together. At least now, she knew. So as much as finding that out hurt, it also felt like the world had been lifted off her shoulders. What had overpowered the hurt and the relief though, was embarrassment. Embarrassment that made her feel like crying. She nodded her head, trying to put a smile on her face, "I understand, yeah. Sounds good."

"Is that what you want?" Huey asked, knowing better that that wasn't a genuine reply.

"I don't really know what I want… I've liked you for so long and… I don't know. This wasn't the outcome I expected in the end, I guess," Jazmine looked down as she ran her finger along her legs, trying not to make eye contact with Huey.

"What was the outcome that you expected?" Huey asked quietly. He felt like he knew the answer but he cared about what Jazmine had to say and how she was feeling.

"Us together, I guess. It always seemed right in my mind." She shrugged, to make it seem as if she didn't care.

"I'm sorry," Huey said softly.

"It's okay, really," Jazmine smiled and looked up at him, "I really should go, first period is almost over I don't want to be late to second."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later? It's kinda hot out maybe we can hang out at the pool after school, invite Caesar and Hiro. I'll text the group chat."

Huey simply just nodded, watching as she pulled out her phone to check her face. The swelling had gone down exponentially but she hadn't seen how bad it really was either. After that, she said bye and left, closing the door behind her. All Huey felt like doing was staying where he was and being stuck in his thoughts, but he knew that he shouldn't miss second period either and got up and left.

Maybe being with Jazmine wouldn't be such a bad thing?